Primary: California is one of three states to use a blanket primary, or top-two system, which allows all candidates to run and all voters to vote but only moves the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, to the general election.[4][5][6]

Voter registration: To vote in the primary, voters had to register by May 19, 2014. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 20, 2014 (the 15th calendar day before that election).[7]

Endorsements

After being defeated in the primary, Lee Rogers (D) endorsed Stephen Knight (R) over Tony Strickland (R). Rogers called Knight "an honest man with integrity." He continued, "To the contrary, Tony Strickland is a politician in search of a district. Recommending a Republican for Congress may not sit well with some in my party, but I didn’t create the rules and I care too much about our district to let it fall to a dishonest carpetbagger who is interested only in himself, like Tony Strickland."[10]

Media

Lee Rogers

Lee Rogers' first TV ad

Lee Rogers' second TV ad

Tony Strickland

Tony Strickland ad - Principles

Buck McKeon endorsement of Strickland

Key votes

Below are important votes the incumbent cast during the 113th Congress.

Government shutdown

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201.[14] At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference.[15]Buck McKeon voted for the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.[16]

The shutdown ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.[17] The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Buck McKeon voted for HR 2775.[18]